Tinnitus is when someone hears ringing in the ears—or a buzzing or roaring sound. Ringing in your ears is likely caused by inner ear damage that alters how your brain processes sound. Loud noise exposure at work or concerts, hearing loss, certain medications, ear infections, and head injuries can also lead to tinnitus.1
For some, ringing in the ears is a minor annoyance that doesn’t affect their day-to-day or that goes away with time. For others, constant tinnitus can make it difficult to sleep or lead to mood disorders like anxiety or depression.1
If you notice ringing in your ears, see a healthcare provider so you can treat the tinnitus and its underlying cause. A range of treatments may help you cope with the ringing and improve your quality of life.1
Home Remedies
There’s no immediate cure for sudden ringing in one or both ears. However, adding sound to a quiet home may reduce tinnitus since silence can make it more noticeable.
Try using a white noise machine, running a fan, or playing ambient music. These home methods are a form of sound therapy known as masking, which can help drown out tinnitus.2 Adding background noise can be especially helpful if you’re trying to stop ringing in your ears at night and get some sleep.
Research shows drinking alcohol and smoking can increase the severity of tinnitus. While not a proven treatment, reducing or avoiding alcohol may improve your tinnitus.3 Studies show smoking may contribute to tinnitus by reducing blood flow and irritating the inner air. If you smoke, quitting may reduce your tinnitus symptoms.4
Medications
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has not approved any medications to treat tinnitus. Still, healthcare providers often use medications approved for other conditions to reduce or manage tinnitus. Medications that may help stop ringing in the ears include:3
- Antiarrhythmics: Tocainide hydrochloride is used to treat and correct arrhythmias (irregular heartbeats). Research shows this medication can also significantly reduce tinnitus symptoms by improving blood flow to the inner ear.
- Antidepressants: These medications help change chemicals in the brain like dopamine, serotonin, or norepinephrine to treat depression. Because people with severe tinnitus often have depression, taking antidepressants may reduce stress and depression related to tinnitus. Studies show that Pamelor (nortriptyline) significantly reduces depression and tinnitus symptoms in people with depression. However, it did not help treat tinnitus in people without depression.
- Antihistamines: These medications treat allergies and symptoms like runny nose and congestion. If you have allergies, taking antihistamines may help treat tinnitus caused by blockage, swelling, or pressure on the inner ear.
- Anxiolytics: Used to treat anxiety disorders, anxiolytics like benzodiazepines may help treat tinnitus by improving sleep, reducing anxiety, and improving neurotransmitter activity in the brain that affects hearing. Barbiturates may also help stop ringing in the ears at night by promoting sleep and reducing fluid pressure on the brain and spine. However, studies are mixed on their effectiveness.
- Vasodilators: These medications treat high blood pressure and heart failure by opening blood vessels to improve blood flow. Reduced blood flow in the inner ear and brain is linked to tinnitus, and taking vasodilators like Sibelium (flunarizine) can reduce sudden hearing loss and improve blood flow to the inner ear and brain. However, other research found flunarizine did not reduce tinnitus symptoms.
- Calcium channel blockers: These medications reduce your cells’ calcium use to treat high blood pressure. Tinnitus is sometimes linked to high calcium concentrations in cochlear cells—sensory hair cells inside and outside the ear that help your brain interpret sounds. Limited research has found taking Nymalize (nimodipine) improved tinnitus symptoms. However, some research found the medication worsened tinnitus.
- Anticonvulsants: These medications are used to treat epileptic seizures, but they may help reduce the increased auditory activity in the brain that’s linked to tinnitus. Anticonvulsants like Tegretol (carbamazepine), Neurontin (gabapentin), Phenytek (phenytoin sodium), and Mysoline (primidone) have all been studied to treat tinnitus. However, most research has found anticonvulsants were not very effective at treating tinnitus.
Surgeries and Procedures
Surgery and other procedures are not typically used to treat or manage tinnitus. However, surgery may be used to treat tinnitus related to underlying conditions.5 Procedures and surgeries used to stop ringing in the ears can include:
- Lidocaine injections: Local anesthetic medications like lidocaine block nerve signals in the skin to prevent pain. To treat tinnitus, local anesthetics may be injected into the ear canal. Doing so may reduce random and overreactive activity in the central nervous system that causes tinnitus.3
- Lidocaine iontophoresis: During this procedure, lidocaine solution is inserted into the ear canal. Then, a device sends an electric signal through the opposite arm. This electric charge may help lidocaine penetrate the eardrum and reduce an overactive auditory system. Evidence on the effectiveness of iontophoresis is limited. However, studies show it may help people treat and manage chronic tinnitus.36
- Stapedectomy: People with tinnitus and otosclerosis—abnormal bone growth of the middle ear—can have their bones restructured to improve sound vibrations to the eardrum. During a stapedectomy, an abnormal stapes bone in the middle ear is replaced with a prosthetic. While some research shows this procedure can help treat tinnitus, other research suggests the surgery can worsen it.5
- Endolymphatic sac shunting: People with Meniere’s disease have fluid build-up in the inner ear that can lead to tinnitus, dizziness, and hearing issues. Surgically inserting a shunt (a small tube) into the inner ear can drain fluid to improve hearing and tinnitus symptoms.7
- Other surgical management: Tinnitus related to noncancerous tumors in the ears and brainstem tumors may be treated by surgically removing related tumors or lesions.7
Therapies
Different types of sound and behavioral therapy are often used to treat tinnitus.
Sound Therapy
Sound therapy can help change how your brain interprets sound or mask tinnitus with other noise. Some common sound therapies for tinnitus include:1
- Hearing aids: People with tinnitus related to hearing loss may benefit from hearing aids—small devices inserted into the ear to improve hearing. These devices can amplify outside noises, which may make tinnitus less noticeable.
- Wearable sound generators: These small electronic devices are inserted into the ear like hearing aids. Unlike hearing aids, they play soft sounds continuously to reduce tinnitus.
- Combination devices: These in-the-ear devices amplify external noise and play soothing sounds to treat tinnitus. These devices are ideal for people with tinnitus and hearing loss.
Behavioral Therapy
Behavioral therapy uses counseling to help people cope with the stress and mood effects tinnitus may cause. Learning how to manage anxiety related to tinnitus can teach you how to avoid noise exposure and cope with tinnitus symptoms to improve your livelihood. Common behavioral therapies for tinnitus include cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) and tinnitus retraining therapy.1
CBT can help you identify negative thoughts related to tinnitus that make you feel stressed, upset, or anxious. A counselor will then teach you how to retrain your brain to manage these negative thoughts. CBT can improve overall well-being if you have chronic tinnitus.
Tinnitus retraining therapy is a combination of CBT and sound therapy that helps people tackle tinnitus’ emotional and physiological effects. Tinnitus retraining therapy aims to retrain your brain so you don’t even notice ringing in your ears. Low-level sound devices may help you drown out tinnitus, while counseling teaches you how to tell your brain that ringing in the ears is a neutral, not invasive sound.
Complementary and Alternative Medicine
There are many anecdotal claims that complementary or alternative medicines can treat tinnitus. However, no solid evidence supports these claims. Still, limited studies with a small number of participants show some complementary therapies may benefit tinnitus.8 Alternative therapies that may stop ringing in the ears include:
- Acupuncture: In this form of traditional Chinese medicine, thin needles are inserted into different body parts to reduce pain or stress. For tinnitus, acupuncture needles are placed in areas on and near the ear, which may reduce stress and improve blood flow to the brain. There is not enough evidence to prove acupuncture can treat tinnitus.9 However, a 2018 clinical trial found 15 sessions of acupuncture over three weeks helped reduce tinnitus loudness and severity in people with nerve issues.10
- Panax ginseng: This herbal supplement, also referred to as Korean ginseng, is often used in traditional Chinese medicine to improve energy and reduce stress. It may benefit tinnitus thanks to its otoprotective properties—meaning it may protect the inner ear from hearing or balance issues caused by medicine. Human research is limited, but some studies show taking Panax ginseng reduced the severity of ringing in the ears. Other research found the supplement improved emotional health among people with tinnitus.11
- Ginkgo biloba: Some believe the herbal supplement can improve blood flow, change nerve activity, and reduce inflammation. This effect may help people reduce tinnitus symptoms. However, studies have found mixed results and often use a combination of ginkgo biloba and treatments like hearing aids.12
Coping Strategies and Support
Tinnitus can be stressful if you constantly hear ringing that affects your daily life and sleep. Stress and anxiety can also make tinnitus worse. If you want to stop ringing in the ears at night or during the day, managing stress by practicing stress reduction techniques like breathing exercises may help.5
Practicing mindful meditation or yoga may also help manage tinnitus. In a review of seven studies, six of the studies found mindful meditation practices reduced tinnitus distress significantly.13 In a study of 43 people, those who practiced yoga once a week for three months reported less stress and tinnitus symptoms.14
Finding Tinnitus Support and Resources
If you need additional support as you learn to manage tinnitus, joining a support group may be helpful. The American Tinnitus Association’s Find a Support Group tool provides a list of online and local support groups. The Tinnitus Talk support forum also offers online support group chats.
Other resources that can help you with tinnitus include:
- Ida Tinnitus Tools: A scale that helps you communicate with healthcare providers how you’re experiencing and coping with tinnitus
- Oto: A therapy app with programs designed to help people manage tinnitus
- Progressive Tinnitus Management resources: A list of resources for veterans experiencing tinnitus—provided by the National Center for Rehabilitative Auditory Research
How To Prevent Tinnitus
The best way to prevent ringing in the ears is to protect your hearing by wearing earplugs or other hearing protectors in a noisy environment. You can help avoid tinnitus by wearing ear protectors at concerts, sporting events, and noisy work environments like construction or landscaping sites.15
A good rule of thumb is to wear a hearing protector if your surroundings are louder than city traffic—about 80-85 decibels.16
When To See a Healthcare Provider
Tinnitus is often a symptom of an underlying health condition that can be treated. See your healthcare provider if you experience ringing in your ears for over a week or if tinnitus affects your sleep or concentration.17 Living with tinnitus can be stressful and increase your risk of depression and anxiety.1
Your healthcare provider will likely refer you to a hearing specialist called an audiologist. An audiologist will typically do a physical exam to look for issues inside the ear and a hearing exam to see how well you can hear. One of the first steps when someone has tinnitus is to look for earwax or signs of an ear infection.1
You may also be referred to an otolaryngologist, or an ENT (ear, nose, and throat doctor). These providers examine your head, neck, and ears for potential causes of tinnitus. An ENT may also order imaging tests like magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to see if any structural issues are causing tinnitus.1
A Quick Review
Tinnitus is a ringing sound inside the ear. Treatments like sound therapy, behavioral therapy, medications, and stress management techniques may stop ringing in the ears. Sometimes, tinnitus goes away in a few days or months. Ringing in the ears can also last for life.
Living with tinnitus can affect your quality of life and mood. If ringing in your ears doesn’t stop, talk with a healthcare provider.
